TRANS*CENDING GENDER: The Work of Gavin Laurence Rouille and Rhys Harper

November 8, 2014 to January 17, 2015

Copyright Gavin Laurence Rouille

Minneapolis-based Rouille’s conceptual art posed questions about masculinity and femininity, traditional gender norms, and what shapes identity. Be it erroneous assumptions, the hurdles of transitioning, or violence (including murder), Rouille’s art lay bare the challenges that transgender and gender-nonconforming people face daily.

Copyright Rhys Harper

But people are more than their challenges, and Syracuse photographer and videographer Rhys Harper’s classically lit black and-white images reflected this sentiment. Harper’s photographs invited the viewer to see his subjects as more than their gender identities. They are teachers, musicians, parents…

Through Rouille’s printmaking and Harper’s photography, Trans*cending Gender presented both the challenges and the real people who live beyond these challenges. Transgender Day of Remembrance – November 20th – fell during the run of this exhibition, when we memorialize those who have died because of transphobia, the fear and hatred of transgender and gender-nonconforming people.